Roast Chicken with Vegetables seems like a complicated meal to prepare. It’s really very simple. With very little preparation, you pop it in the oven and leave it alone. When it’s ready, so is the side dish. It’s a very homey meal, especially on a cold day, and makes your house smell fantastic.
Whole chicken is also very economical. First, you get a wonderful roast chicken dinner. After dinner, pull the last of the chicken off the bones and it’s usually enough for a second meal. Chicken tacos is a favorite at our house, or check out my recipe for Chicken Salad Croissants. Then there is Homemade Chicken Stock. If you think about what you spend for a box of chicken stock, by the time you make stock and put it away in your freezer, you’ve made up the cost of the whole chicken and then some.
Preparing the chicken
If your whole chicken is in the freezer, make sure you move it to the refrigerator 2 days before you’re going cook it. In a pinch you can take it out 1 day in advance and finish the thaw in cold water. Put the chicken in cold water for an hour or two, replacing the cold water every 30 minutes.
Take the chicken out of the plastic and remove the bag of giblets. If you have pets, they will love you even more if you simmer these to add to their dinner. Give the chicken a quick rinse, then pat dry. If there is excess skin or fat, you can trim it away. Give the chicken a good sprinkle of salt and pepper inside the cavity and place it in your roasting pan.
Thoroughly clean all surfaces that the chicken has touched to prevent cross contamination. Give your hands a good wash.
In and around the chicken
There are a lot of ways to stuff the cavity of your chicken. Here I used apple, lemon, rosemary, thyme and bay leaves. Onion, green onion, celery and orange are also good choices, and any herb you love would work well. For me, it all depends on what I have in the refrigerator and garden. (Note: When making chicken stock it’s okay to leave onion or celery. Citrus, like lemons or oranges will leave a bitter flavor due to the white pith next to the peel. Herbs will turn your stock green, so remove those.) Slice the items you intend to put inside the chicken.
You can add potatoes, onions, carrots or just about any root vegetable to the pan around the chicken for great side dishes that cook along with the chicken. Here I used potatoes and onion. Cut them into chunks.
Add items to the cavity of the chicken, some of each item toward the back and then in the front of the cavity. Tuck the wing tips under the chicken. Using kitchen twine, tie the legs together. Add the potatoes and onions around the chicken. Rub the chicken with olive oil. Sprinkle the top of the chicken and the potatoes and onions with plenty of salt and pepper.
Roasting the chicken
Roast at 375 degrees for about an hour and a half, or until the temperature at the meatiest part of the thigh reaches 165 degrees. Let rest for 20 minutes before cutting.
Roast Chicken with Vegetables
Ingredients
- Whole roasting chicken, about 5 lbs.
- 1 apple
- 1 lemon
- 1 bunch rosemary
- 1 bunch thyme
- 1 sprig bay leaves, about 12 leaves
- 6 red potatoes
- 1 sweet onion
- Salt
- Pepper
Directions
- Step 1 Remove the chicken from the plastic and rinse the chicken, removing the bag of giblets. Pat dry and place in a roasting pan. If there is excess skin or fat, you can trim it away. Tuck the wing tips under the chicken. Using kitchen twine, tie the legs together.
- Step 2 Sprinkle the inside of the chicken generously with salt and pepper.
- Step 3 Clean your hands and all surfaces that the chicken has touched.
- Step 4 Slice the apple and lemon.
- Step 5 Cut the potatoes and onion into chunks.
- Step 6 Place the apple and lemon slices, along with the herbs, inside the cavity of the chicken. Put some of each toward the back of the cavity and some of each in the front of the cavity.
- Step 7 Scatter the potatoes and onions around the chicken.
- Step 8 Rub the chicken with olive oil. Sprinkle the chicken and the potatoes and onions with salt and pepper.
- Step 9 Roast at 375 degrees for about an hour and a half, until the temperature in the meatiest part of the thigh reads 165 degrees.
- Step 10 Let the chicken rest for 20 minutes before cutting.
